[geeks] GCC vs Sun Studio

[Joshua Boyd]

On Fri, Oct 07, 2005 at 12:17:00PM -0400, Charles Shannon Hendrix wrote:

> It's not just code though: scripts and makefiles often need tweaking too.

For me, that is the case more frequently than bad C/C++ code, and most
of the time, the build system is far harder to fix than the source code
is. 
 
> The whole GNU autoconf mess really gets to me sometimes.  When it works, 
> it is wonderful.  When it breaks, it is the most indecipherable mess I 
> have ever seen.

You can say that again repeatedly.  Fixing the autoconf problems in
using sun C or MIPSpro is what has stalled more than one of my porting
efforts. 
 
> I wish someone would replace autoconf with something better, and that it 
> would start getting used.

Me too.  Heck, I'd settle for a good replacement that I can just use
myself. 
 
> Regarding GNU compilers: all compilers have faults.  I've had some 
> serious issues with Sun's C compiler not catching things before, and 
> even DEC's well respected compilers have bit me with math bugs on the 
> Alpha systems.
> 
> Most programmers trust their compilers without question, which is 
> amazing given how complex they are, and how easy it is for them to do 
> something stupid.

Most programmers don't have the chops to spot compiler mistakes, so they
don't have a lot of choice but to trust it and hope for the best.

> GCC 4.0.2 is not current, it is a test release.  It's performance can 
> range from better to dismal, depending on what you are doing.

The GCC web site says that 4.0.2 is current as of September 28th, and
the mailing list seems to indicate that they are hoping not to do a
4.0.3.

Personally, I'm looking forward to GCC 4.1.  It is currently in stage 3
testing, and with luck it will be out by the end of the year.  I think
it is supposed to be a good bit faster that 4.0, but it might be too
soon to hope for it to be faster than 3.4.

-- 
Joshua D. Boyd
jdboyd at jdboyd.net
http://www.jdboyd.net/
http://www.joshuaboyd.org/